Brand Manager

KFC UK & Ireland; Woking; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading fast-food brand in the UK is seeking a dynamic Brand Manager to drive local marketing excellence and create buzz around the brand. The ideal candidate will have over 6 years of experience in brand marketing, with a focus on innovative strategies that resonate in local communities. This role offers opportunities for personal growth within a passionate and creative team environment, where you can truly embrace the brand's culture while delivering impactful marketing campaigns.

Benefits

Hybrid working arrangement

Up to 11% pension contributions

Early finishes on Fridays

25 days of holiday plus bank holidays

Bonus scheme linked to performance

Private healthcare and mental health support

25% discount on food

Qualifications

• Proven ability to manage local marketing projects independently.
• Experience in fast-paced restaurant environments preferred.
• Strong strategic engagement with brand marketing.

Responsibilities

• Drive local marketing excellence and create brand fame.
• Lead partnerships and collaborations for brand relevance.
• Plan and execute local campaigns to boost brand awareness.

Skills

local marketing strategy

creative and commercial acumen

team collaboration

project management

curiosity about marketing trends

Education

6+ years in brand or local marketing

Job description

Welcome to KFC. Home of the real ones.

We sell the world’s best chicken. Seriously. And we’ve done it since 1939, when the idea of crispy, original recipe chicken took Kentucky by storm. Now, we’re proud to serve 1000+ communities across the UK and Ireland, bringing the grit, pride and iconic reputation that we started with, all those years ago.

Across the Restaurant Support Centre (RSC), we come to work to be ourselves, and to make something of ourselves. We want to see our potential go that little bit further, as part of one of the world’s most iconic brands.

What’s the gig? Well, you support our restaurants — and we’ll support you every step of the way. Simple. Our doors are open — and they can take you anywhere.

All we ask is that you be you. Because that makes us, us. Sound good? Great. Let’s find out about that job.

The Team

Our Marketing team is a 50-strong crew of bold thinkers, culture shapers and creative doers - from Brand and Digital to Strategy, Food Quality and Innovation. We’re here to keep KFC at the heart of culture across the UK & Ireland, blending our iconic roots with fresh, fearless ideas that connect with real people.

We don’t just make ads - we build love, drive growth, and stay one step ahead of what’s next.

About the Role

We’re on the hunt for a talented, ambitious Brand Manager to join our Marketing team, someone who doesn’t just like chicken, but lives and breathes the KFC brand and the culture around it.

This role is all about driving local marketing excellence and brand fame. You’ll make sure KFC stays front-of-mind in every community, shows up in culture in the right way, and creates the kind of buzz that gets people talking (and craving chicken). You’ll power growth in local markets, spark earned fame through social and PR and build standout partnerships that amplify our voice nationally.

It’s a rare chance to join an award-winning Marketing Team inside one of the UK’s biggest, boldest, most-loved brands. You’ll work with brilliant minds across the business, restaurant teams who live our brand every day, and agency partners who push us to think bigger.

We’re looking for an original, someone dynamic, culturally curious and full of fresh ideas. Someone who gets our fun, fearless, slightly cheeky KFC personality and uses it to create work with impact. There’s huge room to grow, and we’re excited for someone who wants to build their career with KFC and Yum!

What will you spend your time doing?

Build Brand Fame & Share of Voice

Lead the charge on growing KFC’s earned fame — from culturally relevant activations to PR moments and scroll-stopping social content. Make people talk about us, crave us, share us.

Drive Partnerships & Collabs

Supercharge our partnerships (think Pepsi and media owners) to unlock big, integrated moments that boost brand relevance locally and nationally.

Create Buzz at Openings & Defend Our Patch

Turn every new restaurant opening into a moment that earns attention. Build strategies to defend local share when competitors try to flex.

Support Equity Restaurants on the Ground

Work with Ops and cross-functional teams to support restaurant performance through smart, targeted local marketing.

Lead Local Restaurant Marketing (LRM)

Champion LRM as a growth engine — partnering with restaurants, franchisees and internal teams to drive awareness, engagement and customer choice.

Plan & Execute Local Campaigns

From new openings to local opportunities and challenges — design and deliver multi-channel campaigns that shift the dial where it matters.

Lead Agency & Creative Execution

Work with our world-class creative, PR and media partners to deliver A-grade work that’s flawlessly executed and unmistakably KFC.

Guard the Brand

Empower restaurants and franchise partners to activate locally and stay fiercely on-brand. Set the guardrails, spark the creativity.

Operate With Pace & Agility

Thrive in a fast, reactive environment — juggling multiple priorities while keeping standards sky high.

Bring a Challenger Mindset

Spot opportunities, bring fresh thinking, optimise our LRM approach and drive continuous improvement.

What we love from you:

Experience

• This position requires a real passion for local marketing strategy and execution with a combination of creative and commercial acumen.
• Ability to work well autonomously and set your own daily workload. You won’t be micro-managed here and we’ll be looking for you to pick up a brief and run with it independently to meet deadlines.
• We’re looking for a someone who wants accountability and can manage the full local marketing mix. The role combines an eye for creative and brand awareness with an executional focus.
• You’ll be extremely organised and tenacious to ensure the flawless management and delivery of key assigned local marketing projects within a faced paced and reactive environment.
• You’ll be able to engage at a strategic level, understanding the brand strategy and how the restaurant space can be used to activate localised campaigns through a combination of brand and retail thinking.
• You remain curious and on the pulse of latest marketing tactics such a social, influencers and new local marketing developments to find new ways to optimise and continuously improve our planning.
• Experience of working within a high street restaurant business and franchisee model would be beneficial.
• You’ll already be working within a marketing team and have a minimum of 6 years’ experience specifically in the field of brand marketing and/or local marketing.

About you

• A genuine team player
• High energy and loves celebrating wins
• A self-starter with curiosity, energy and adaptability
• Hungry to learn and thrive in a small, mighty team
• A practical problem-solver with strong commercial instincts
• Obsessed with high standards, momentum and getting things done
• Proven ability to work in a fast-paced changing environment, with the ability to pivot in line with business priorities
• And of course… a true KFC believer

What’s in it for you:

We offer benefits that make your life that little bit easier, because we know the juggle is real.

From flexible, hybrid working to Fri-Yay early finishes and Live Well Days, we’ve created a package that supports the real you, in and out of work.

You’ll get:

• Hybrid working from our Woking RSC (just 24 mins from London). Our Marketing team spend Tuesdays and Wednesday's face to face in the office.
• Up to 11% company pension contributions
• Fri-Yay finishes at 1pm every Friday
• 25 days’ holiday (plus bank hols)a
• 5 Live Well Days a year, just for you
• Bonus scheme linked to company & personal performance
• Private healthcare, Digital GP access & mental health coaching
• Enhanced parental leave and flexible return options
• Study support, income protection, life cover & more
• And yes—25% off the chicken

Because real ones deserve real rewards.

The road to becoming a real one…

1. Apply (Go on… do it) – send us your CV and answer a couple of app questions.
2. Intro call with our Talent Team
3. Virtual call with Hiring Manager + Agency partner
4. F2F interview & Task at our HQ, Home of The Real Ones in Woking

KFC for everyone:

Whoever you are and wherever you’re from, KFC is a place where you can bring the real you to work.

Our promise is this: every person who applies to a role at KFC, regardless of age, background, ethnicity, gender, ability, religion or sexual orientation, will have an equal opportunity to work here. We don’t just welcome, we encourage applications from underrepresented groups from all industries.

If you’d like any additional support with your application, have a disability or condition that may affect your performance during the recruitment process, or have any other requirements — just let us know. We’ll be there to help you be the real you.

Ready?

We hope so, if you’re ready to be part of our community, now’s the time to apply.

Worried you aren’t ticking all the boxes? Don’t - we’d still love to hear from you.